Grateful recognition and thankful hearts

Bad Dawg Inc. thanks law enforcement for service

Love, compassion, and appreciation.

That is what Roshawn Randall wanted to highlight Tuesday morning as he and his team from Bad Dawg Inc. contracted with FedEx and passed out awards to representatives of Kootenai County’s law enforcement agencies.

Inspired by the tireless work of these local heroes, Randall organized the event to thank members of the Idaho State Police, Post Falls Police, Coeur d’Alene Police, Idaho Department of Probation and Parole, Idaho Fish and Game, Coeur d’Alene Fire Department and Kootenai County Fire and Rescue for their service and dedication to the community.

“With everything that I see, we need to show a little bit more love and compassion. I don’t think everybody knows what everyone’s job is and that we are all under a lot of stress. If you take the time to figure out what people are going through, show appreciation and love to your fellow person, then you can’t go wrong,” Randall said. “I would like to think with more love and compassion you can change the world.”

These are the first awards Bad Dawg Inc. and FedEx have gifted to officials, but Randall wants to make it an annual event. He hopes that every year representatives of the different agencies can come together to talk about what is going on in the community and acknowledge officers for their hard work.

For Randall, the main point of organizing these awards and bringing the agencies together was to express his gratitude. After moving to Coeur d’Alene in 2005 Randall says he was blown away by the community support, attitude of public officials, and round-the-clock devotion of law enforcement.

“I watch the news, I look at Facebook and it always amazes me the dedication and the compassion that you guys have,” Randall said. “I’ve seen you guys out there on the freeway changing tires, I’ve seen you guys out there on the front lines making sure everyone is safe, making sure that we can sleep at night and our kids can go out and play.”

With nationwide tension between some citizens and law enforcement agencies, Kootenai County police officials believe it is crucial to act as public servants and strengthen their positive relationships with citizens.

“Without law enforcement, you have anarchy. Who is going to run in when there is a violent offender and everybody else is running out?” Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger said. “People need to understand it is a tough job and we see some pretty bad stuff from time to time, but we still have that compassion and we take care of the people. That’s who we are, the people that take care of others. I hope that law enforcement continues to go down that road and never lose the idea that we’re public servants.”

While Wolfinger and Randall both agree that Kootenai County and the communities inside the area are amazing, they know it would be nothing without law enforcement officials.

“It’s the people in the green and the brown that really deserve it, they’re the ones doing this every day and that makes a big difference. This just tells us that we’re doing the right thing in our community,” Wolfinger said. “Here is Bad Dawg as a contractor for FedEx Ground who is recognizing that we’re doing the right thing here, it just solidifies that support that we have with the community. It feels great.”